A while ago, a friend sent me a link to a video of Buddhist monks walking for peace. “A must-watch,” he wrote.
My first thought was, Oh no… another video. I already have my own ever-growing watch list. Still, to please my friend, I clicked “play.”
Within minutes, I was drawn in, even though not much was happening on the screen. A small group of men in orange robes walked quietly, over and over, for peace. What moved me was not their actions, but the energy of this humble group. Their presence touched my heart and almost made me cry.
“Thank you for this video,” I wrote to my friend. “I almost cried watching it.”
He replied, “And I did cry watching it!” Later, I learned that millions of others had cried as they watched the monks walk along highways, give flowers to children, accept food offerings, and keep moving at the same steady pace.
Since then, I’ve followed the monks’ journey, not as a former journalist, a former Buddhist nun (I was ordained for a year), or just a curious viewer, but as a breathing educator with a Buteyko perspective.
Breathing Light
I quickly noticed how the monks breathed. Their patterns matched the type of breathing I teach in my sessions: nasal, subtle, silent, not noticeable. Watching them, I thought, I wish I could always breathe as perfectly as they do, and I wish my Buteyko students could too.
As I watched these Theravada monks, I didn’t see any of them breathing through the mouth. I also didn’t notice any heavy or forceful breathing (through either the mouth or the nose), the kind that is often triggered by tiredness, stress, or excitement. Their breathing remained wholesome and peaceful, regardless of what they were walking through.
It was clear to me that this way of breathing came naturally to them and took no effort. This is different from what I often see in Buteyko classes, where people may breathe through their mouths, or their breathing becomes audible or heavy when they start walking. In those cases, I ask my clients to shift to lighter, healthier breathing: close the mouth, breathe through the nose, quiet the breath, and keep the shoulders and chest still with each inhale. I sometimes also say, “Fake it until you make it.” It’s like good posture – you practice it until it becomes natural. For these monks, the healthy breath Dr. Buteyko recomended to everyone seemed to be their default state.
From a Buteyko perspective, this kind of breathing usually indicates higher carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels in the lungs. Of course, I didn’t get to measure the monks’ Positive Maximum Pause, but after years of observing breath, I believe they are in the higher zones of Dr. Buteyko’s health chart. Some might even be above the optimal health level (a morning PMP of 60 seconds). Dr. Buteyko called these top levels (when morning PMP reaches 80, 120, 180 seconds, or even higher) the “yogic zone,” which is rarely achieved, especially in our fast-paced world.
Dr. Buteyko said the “yogic level of breathing” brings super stamina, a clear mind, strong focus, sharp intuition, freedom from anxiety, and other qualities, some of which we call “extraordinary.” Watching the monks, I felt they showed some of these every day. Could you walk 8-10 hours a day for many days in a row and be content and free of agitation? I know I can’t!
This true “yogic” breathing never happens by accident. Breath-holding exercises can help a person move in that direction, but this “light breathing” is not something we can gain in a month. It forms gradually as a result of how a person lives. Automatic breathing patterns reflect our long-term habits, inner states, and daily choices repeated until they become our baseline.
Isn’t it amazing that breathing is both a mirror of who we are and a doorway to a change? The Buteyko method offers insight into how breathing works and how to use this precious tool to move toward better health, well-being, and a more meaningful life.
CO2-boosting Lifestyle
The creator of the video, which I placed at the top of this article, said: “These monks took their monastery on the road with them.” And it’s true.
Even though their daily routine was affected by long walks, the essence of their lifestyle didn’t change. The peace walk did not look like a disruption but rather a reflection of a normal monastic life, which is typically CO2-boosting.
That is why it makes sense to me to look at both – the monks’ everyday way of living and the elements they brought with them on this journey – and to ask what exactly supports such healthy breathing and high CO₂ levels. There is much we can learn from this.
If we understand how to support CO₂ in daily life, we can use some of these ideas ourselves. We don’t need to become monks to see results. Even small changes in one area can noticeably improve breathing and CO₂ tolerance.
Why Do We Need to Accumulate CO₂?
Before we talk about a CO₂-supportive lifestyle, we need to pause and ask a basic question: why do we need to accumulate CO₂ at all?
Here is Dr. Buteyko’s answer: because CO₂ in the lungs is not a waste product; it’s a regulator os all the body’s functions, essential for life. Without CO₂, we die. Adequate CO₂ stabilizes the nervous system, improves oxygen delivery to the brain and to all organs and tissues, and reduces inner reactivity. When CO₂ is chronically depleted through over-breathing, the mind has to work harder, emotions escalate more quickly, and calm becomes something we chase instead of something we naturally inhabit.
But that’s not all. CO₂ doesn’t only support health—it also appears to support awakening. As breathing becomes less hungry and lighter, the mind naturally widens its perspective, attention turns inward, the nervous system softens and stabilizes, and clarity and presence become more accessible. This benefits not only the individual but everyone around them. I’d like to say that CO2 accelerates our personal and collective evolution.
This helps explain why, empirically, so many spiritual traditions developed lifestyles that protect CO₂: silence, moderation, fasting, prayer, simplicity, steady movement, and inner focus. In fact, Dr. Buteyko stated that spiritual traditions are, in essence, carefully preserved collections of ways to accumulate CO₂. A monastery, in this sense, becomes something like a boarding school – an environment designed to reduce distraction and keep people focused on becoming more awake human beings, not only for themselves, but for the benefit of humanity as a whole.
And now, let’s talk in detail about why the monks’ breathing is so subtle and peaceful.
Silent Nasal Breathing — The Foundation
If I had to name one key part of the monks’ breathing, it would be this: their breath doesn’t draw attention to itself.
The first thing I noticed wasn’t what they did, but what they didn’t do. Their mouths stayed closed. Their breathing was silent. Their chests and shoulders didn’t rise and fall with each breath. It was the kind of breathing you could almost miss, what Dr. Buteyko called “breathing like a little mouse,” which naturally supports good health.
From a Buteyko perspective, silent nasal breathing is one of the simplest and most reliable ways the body preserves healthy CO₂ levels. Mouth breathing, even mild, even occasional, usually increases respiratory ventilation, and increased ventilation inevitably leads to a shortage of CO₂ in the lungs.
The nose is not merely a doorway; it is a sophisticated apparatus designed to condition the air for our use. It regulates airflow, creates gentle resistance, warms and humidifies the air, helps clean it, and supports the production of nitric oxide. In this way, the nose naturally limits excess breathing and keeps airflow lower than what has become “normal” in modern life.
When breathing is gentle and through the nose, something deeper happens. The body gets a signal that it’s safe. The nervous system moves away from stress and into a state where it can rest, digest, repair… and even meditate. This isn’t the urgent, fight-or-flight breath, but a calm breath that tells the heart and brain we’re safe. Because of that, the mind isn’t stuck in survival mode and can think more clearly and generously.
With silent nasal breathing as the default, oxygen delivery becomes more efficient, the mind grows less reactive, and inner space feels clearer. In spiritual language, this often reads as an increase in prana – our vitality or life force. In the Buteyko language, it seems that higher CO₂ levels allow the whole system we call “I” to function more efficiently and with greater ease.
Long, Steady Walking
The monks walk for hours every day, often eight to ten, and still breathe through their noses. To most people, this might seem simple or even unremarkable, but to someone trained in Buteyko, it’s a powerful practice hidden in an ordinary action.
Walking is one of the most natural ways to raise CO₂ in the lungs. For most of history, people moved a lot every day – not as exercise, but as a way of life. Now, we spend hours sitting, which slows metabolism and lowers CO₂ production. Many people try to make up for this with short, intense workouts, but these often lead to heavy breathing (through the mouth or the nose), resulting in excessive CO₂ loss. Over time, this can cause many health problems.
Dr. Buteyko often pointed out that it is natural for human beings to remain physically active for 4 to 6 hours a day, which supports sufficient CO₂ levels. For most modern people, even a two-hour walk feels like a luxury… or a torment. This is one reason Buteyko breathing exercises can be such a helpful substitute, allowing us to increase CO₂ tolerance despite a sedentary lifestyle. The monks don’t need a substitute. They have the lifestyle.
Slow, steady walking raises metabolic demand just enough to stimulate adaptation without pushing the body into stress. It doesn’t require panting. It doesn’t demand the “I need more air” urgency. Paired with nasal breathing, ventilation stays restrained and, as a result of it, CO₂ is retained, oxygen delivery improves, and the nervous system is steadily trained toward parasympathetic stability rather than fight-or-flight.
For many people, daily unhurried walking combined with silent nose-breathing would, by itself, produce noticeable changes: steadier emotions, clearer thinking, and a body that stops acting as if life is an emergency – the results of CO2 increase.
No Chatter
The monks spend much of their day in silence, even though millions of people would love to speak with them. And when the monks do speak, they do so gently and briefly. There is no meaningless chatter. Speech is used mindfully and constructively, and conversations are balanced with long periods of silence – a combination that naturally supports CO₂ accumulation.
Modern conversation is often breath-expensive. People talk fast, interrupt each other, raise their voices, inhale sharply through the mouth, and infuse their speech with strong emotion. In this way, CO₂ is stripped away quickly, and it’s common for people to feel exhausted after a simple conversation, to start coughing, or to feel short of breath.
The monks do the opposite. Even when they speak, their voices remain soft and relaxed. Their speech is unforced and physiologically economical. There is no gulping of air between sentences. Breathing stays gentle and almost unnoticeable, so CO₂ is preserved rather than drained. Their words also tend to calm and unite people, which further supports stable breathing and CO₂ levels.
They also practice periods of silence every day. In this context, silence is not absence; it is regulation. Less speech leads to less ventilation, which supports CO₂ and a calm nervous system. Silence becomes a sanctuary where the breath remains intact, and the mind settles without effort.
Minimalism vs. Over-Consumption
When Dr. Buteyko was asked why hyperventilation became so common, his answer was blunt: greed.
At first, this can sound surprising. But if you begin to look honestly at your own level of consumption, it starts to make sense. Compared to most people in the U.S., I don’t consume much. Yet when I compare myself to these monks who own nothing beyond an alms bowl and their orange robes, I suddenly see myself as a heavy consumer.
This has little to do with money alone. Greed, in this context, is the reflex of “more”: more food, more speed, more stimulation, more information, more drama, more rushing, more achievements. And “more” almost always comes with more breathing – bigger inhalations, louder exhales, a body behaving as if it is constantly trying to catch up with life, and never quite reaching a state of satisfaction.
When we feel genuinely content with what we have and truly grateful for it, breathing quiets naturally. The organism is no longer overloaded or trapped in a constant state of dissatisfaction, and ventilation softens on its own.
And this isn’t only personal. When a culture runs on over-consumption, it also runs on over-breathing – collectively reactive, perpetually unsatisfied, always reaching. This is why Dr. Buteyko pointed out that modern society suffers from an epidemic of hyperventilation. He also said that, collectively as a civilization, we keep losing CO2.
A simpler life – the type of life these monks have – doesn’t just look peaceful; it creates the physiological conditions for peace, right down to better CO₂ preservation and a steadier nervous system.
A Focused, Altruistic Mind
When Dr. Buteyko was asked what the remedy for hyperventilation is, his answer was just as unexpected: altruism.
That single word changes the whole conversation, because hyperventilation is not only a mechanical habit – it is often a psychological atmosphere supporting self-centeredness. The mind can become busy, preoccupied, and narrow. There is little space to care about people in another country, about nature, or about anything beyond one’s own survival, comfort, or pleasure. This inner contraction is reflected directly in the breath.
The monks practice something very different. Their attention is not scattered across devices, worries, rehearsals, or invisible arguments. Their minds are focused… and not only focused, but oriented toward creating a positive change for all of us. While walking, they use their minds to recite prayers and mantras, directing their awareness toward the aspiration for peace for all. Their focus has direction, and their emotions remain neutral rather than polarized.
Dr. Buteyko observed that emotional states directly influence the volume of breathing. Fear, anger, jealousy, dishonesty, and competitiveness increase breathing and reduce CO₂. Kindness, compassion, and genuine care for others’ well-being (what Dr. Buteyko called altruism) have the opposite effect. When attention shifts away from “me” and toward the well-being of others, breathing naturally softens, and CO₂ or our life force is protected.
Nature Tempering and Grounding
Another part of monastic life that creates stability is something many people today actively try to avoid: natural discomfort.
Buddhist monks often go barefoot or wear very simple shoes, dress minimally, spend long periods outdoors, and adapt to changing weather instead of constantly seeking comfort. I call this tempering. It means gradually getting used to natural elements, which helps the body become more adaptable and strengthens the immune system. In the Buteyko tradition, Nature Tempering involves conscious contact with cold, heat, wind, water, and snow. This CO₂-supportive practice strengthens the body as a whole and helps us experience nature as an ally rather than an enemy.
Constant comfort has the opposite effect. When we keep our bodies at perfectly controlled temperatures, wrap ourselves in layers, and avoid every breeze, we become fragile and reactive. A bit of wind, strong sunlight, or snow can start to feel threatening. The nervous system stays on edge, and when that happens, breathing usually becomes faster and heavier.
Tempering introduces positive, manageable stress. It trains the body to remain calm in changing conditions. Over time, the organism learns, “I can handle this.” And when the environment is no longer perceived as danger, breathing naturally follows – becoming quieter, slower, and more efficient. Of course, this is also supported by a stronger immune system.
You can see the monks walking through sun, snow, humidity, and wind without protective layers, sunscreen, or special boots. And yet, they are not bothered. They don’t complain or become irritated. Their inner calm, maintained in changing conditions, is a teaching in itself.
Barefoot walking also plays an important role. Native Americans believed that white people were often ill because they wore shoes and lost direct contact with Mother Earth. Walking barefoot restores that contact. It allows the body to feel the ground directly, sharpening balance, increasing sensory feedback, and drawing attention out of the head and back into the body. As the mind stops floating, the breath often stops overspending.
This creates a grounding effect, and honestly, in our anxious society, grounding is something we deeply need.
Sleep as a Conscious Practice
I’ve heard a story about a monk on this peace walk who always sleeps sitting upright rather than lying flat, and it made me smile. I had been trained to do the same during a year-long Buddhist retreat. Every night I slept sitting up in a so-called meditation box, in a cross-legged position. At the time, I knew nothing about the Buteyko method, so I didn’t fully understand why this was required. Later, when I learned Buteyko, it became clear: sleeping upright helps preserve CO₂ and supports the preservation of prana. We simply lose much less CO₂ in this position. This practice was taught to me by a Tibetan Buddhist lama, who explained that yogis have followed it for centuries.
Dr. Buteyko himself also slept sitting in a chair. Many people with asthma or breathing difficulties notice a similar effect in their own lives: they may sleep symptom-free in a semi-vertical position, such as in a recliner, but as soon as they lie flat, coughing or wheezing begins. From a Buteyko perspective, this makes sense. Sleep is a vulnerable period for breathing, and a horizontal position (especially on the back, the so-called “corpse pose”) often encourages deeper breathing and greater CO₂ loss.
At night, metabolism slows and produces less CO₂, yet many people lose even more through mouth breathing and snoring, whether the mouth is open or closed. The result can be a CO₂-poor night, leaving us waking tired, congested, mentally foggy, and not fully restored, even after what seems like enough sleep.
Deep, unconscious sleep is also known for “stealing” CO₂. This is why yogis have traditionally slept sitting up – to avoid sinking into this heavy, dull state of unconsciousness. This posture supports better awareness during sleep and, at the same time, encourages quieter, more economical breathing throughout the night, naturally leading to higher CO₂ levels.
A Way of Eating
The monks’ relationship with food is strictly pragmatic: not excessive, obsessive, or indulgent. Just what the body needs, nothing more. Simple.
From a Buteyko perspective, what we eat directly affects how we breathe and, consequently, our CO₂ levels. Heavy, protein-rich foods or excessive food intake increase metabolic demand and breathing rate. More digestion requires more oxygen intake, and less CO₂ is retained.
Think of the heavy breathing many people experience after a large Thanksgiving meal; you may remember this labored breathing from your own experience or your guests’. It is common. Traditional monastic meals are the opposite. They are modest, not restaurant-fancy, and consist mostly of grains and vegetables, with occasional and limited animal protein. This is the type of diet Dr. Buteyko recommended for healthy breathing. Why? Because plain food does not overstimulate the senses or require heroic digestion, which often leads to over-breathing.
It is striking how often the monks on the peace walk eat: just once a day. In modern terms, this is called intermittent fasting. According to Dr. Buteyko and my own experience, fasting significantly increases CO₂. In fact, I often call fasting a Buteyko practice. Long intervals without active digestion reduce metabolic strain, create a calmer internal environment, and support CO₂ accumulation because the body is no longer constantly processing and overworking.
In a way, the monks’ dietary simplicity is respiratorily rich. Less food means less physiological stimulation, so the breath becomes lighter and more subtle, preserving CO₂. This is why fasting has been used as both a healing and spiritual practice in many traditions around the world.
Sex vs. Celibacy
In modern culture, sex is often paired with emotional intensity, urgency, performance, and drama, which is fueled by mouth breathing. During sexual excitement, many people inhale sharply, breathe loudly and rapidly, and hyperventilate without realizing it. The experience may feel positive and stimulating, yet physiologically, it often involves excessive ventilation and CO₂ loss. I often say that breathing prefers neutrality; it does not thrive in emotional peaks.
Dr. Buteyko did not claim that sexual activity is harmful. His point was that it becomes destabilizing when it is too frequent or obsessive. In those cases, the pattern of heavy breathing and nervous system arousal repeats again and again, and the body is regularly depleted of CO₂ or vitality.
The monastic vow of celibacy removes this recurring stimulus. It smooths emotional fluctuations, protects respiratory stability, and conserves resources that would otherwise be spent in cycles of excitation and depletion. Across traditions, this vow has not been established as repression, as many modern people assume, but as a deliberate method of preserving CO₂ – and therefore safeguarding physical and mental well-being. In this view, the conserved energy is redirected, becoming available for inner development and awakening.
Chanting and Meditation
Every morning and evening, these monks chant and meditate. These are not merely rituals to follow; these techniques are among the most effective, time-proven practices for healthy breathing and CO₂ accumulation.
When combined with healthy breathing, chanting becomes a powerful breathing exercise. Inhalation naturally shortens, while exhalation extends through sound. The breathing rate slows, air consumption decreases, and CO₂ levels in the lungs rise. I have seen clients whose morning Positive Maximum Pause was around 20 seconds but increased to 70 seconds through consistent daily chanting.
In general, chanting Christian liturgies, Islamic or Jewish prayers, or Buddhist mantras has a very positive effect on breathing. Dr. Buteyko specifically examined the Sanskrit mantra Om Mani Padme Hum and recommended it for those who experience anxiety or breathlessness.
Meditation has a similarly powerful effect. When mental activity quiets, one of the main drivers of unconscious over-breathing diminishes. After a deep meditation, people often tell me their breathing feels so subtle that it is almost imperceptible. From a Buteyko perspective, this is ideal. I often tell my clients, “This is your reference point. Take your breathing practice off the cushion and try to breathe throughout the day the way you breathe when you are meditating.”
Dr. Buteyko observed that authentic spiritual traditions across the globe – chanting, praying, meditating, bowing, serving others, and cultivating loving-kindness – function, in essence, as collections of CO₂-boosting techniques. When practiced without modern obstacles such as chronic hyperventilation, they guide us toward breathing patterns that support higher CO₂ levels, which can have a deeply positive effect on our lives, both individually and collectively.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is central to the monks’ journey and to their teachings. In the Buddhist tradition, it is the continuous awareness of the present moment, anchored in the breath.
In this practice, breathing and awareness merge. Each breath is consciously observed and gently accepted. By focusing on the breath, practitioners soften physical tension and calm the nervous system, allowing respiration to regulate naturally.
Over time, mindful breathing reshapes the relationship between mind and body. Attention is no longer lost in thought or carried away by emotion; it returns again and again to the steady rhythm of breathing. This stability reduces irregular breathing patterns and supports a state of calm clarity. The head monk strongly emphasized this principle in his teaching.
On the peace walk, mindfulness is essential. It helps the monks remain balanced and compassionate even in the face of unexpected challenges. In one account I listened to, I learned that a truck drove into the group, injuring two monks. Yet even in that moment, they did not react with anger or hatred toward the driver. Instead, they calmly cared for the injured members of their group, maintaining their compassion for everyone involved, including the driver.
Breathing Reflects How We Live
Breathing cannot be separated from lifestyle. It is a living reflection of how we move, eat, speak, think, and relate to ourselves and the world.
The monks’ breathing is calm because their lives are focused and orderly. Their choices (simple food, long walks, silence, service, prayer, meditation) create conditions in which CO₂ can be preserved. Their breath is not a technique layered on top of an unwholesome lifestyle; it is the natural outcome of a wholesome way of living.
The same applies to us: our breathing reflects our habits, values, and inner orientation. When life becomes simpler, kinder, and less driven by the desire for more, the breath often follows, becoming more peaceful. This calmer breathing, in turn, influences our health and well-being, how we feel, and how we behave.
As a Buteyko specialist, I have seen that peaceful breathing (even if, at the beginning, it is “faked” or, better said, intentionally practiced) gradually becomes the foundation for a more peaceful and meaningful life. I know this from my own experience and from my clients’.
Most of us will never walk across a country barefoot with a bowl in our hands. But each of us can take one step more consciously, becoming aware of the breath and making small adjustments that support balance rather than stress. One step at a time; one step silently breathing through the nose, breathing peacefully.
There is much to learn from these monks – not only about CO₂, but about what it means to live in harmony: a life in which the way we walk, eat, speak, and even sleep gently teaches the body to breathe in a way that sustains well-being and fosters inner and outer peace – for everyone.
